Twitterpated...

I'm starting to get that excited pre-Scottsdale show vibe. We're 2 weeks out and counting but I'm thinking about all the fantastic new horses I'm excited to see in the flesh. Horses in full bloom, nothing like it.

We're also gearing up for a shoot Friday at Ted Robinson's place here in Ojai. Ted Robinson is the king of the NRCHA working cow horses so it will be a great change of pace for us to do these super-cowy, athletic Quarter Horses doing their thing! I'll be blogging from the shoot so keep your eyeball peeled (we'll try to keep the dust down). Ted owns the top money-earning working cow horses of all time including Smokum's Prize, Nu Circle n Cash and his sire, the legendary Nu Cash. (Check out Ted's website for a really wonderful article on this man-- a true legend and a great horseman!)

Being the sucker I am for ancient stallions, when I met Nu Cash the other day during the location scout, my heart just leapt in my chest. Resting in the quiet shade of his very own sycamore and oak trees, I couldn't resist approaching the old king. His happy blazed face sauntered over to greet me as I scratched his nose. A real treat. I'm often struck at how lonely and isolated a breeding stallion's life can be, particularly if they are valuable. Seems the better they are, the more sequestered they become. Hence my love and admiration for these old boys who have endured and created their legacies, now to live out a well-deserved happy, quiet life. (I think of Strike and his amazing lifelong loving home at Gallun Farms, complete with Jackson, his personal donkey friend/bodyguard/minion). It was wonderful to see Nu Cash has horse buddies on either side of his very large pasture, affording him the opportunity to be social whenever the mood strikes him. Creating the videos for all of these amazing stallions we have had the fortune to come to know, it hits me harder than ever how much I love all these boys.